Deep water prawns in WA
Submitted by Alan James on Fri, 2025-02-07 11:54
Has anyone dabbled or know of others who may have dabbled catching deep water prawns in WA?
After failed attempts at catching painted crays in pots in Vanuatu my Kiwi / Vanuatu mate converted the pots to deep water prawn pots with some success. Depths of 400m - 450m proved more successful than sub 350m. After some early hiccups catches were around 2.5 - 3kg of prawns per pot. The pic below is one very pleased neighbour.
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Image Upload:
.thumbnail.jpg "The goldies are getting bigger")
Rob H
Posts: 5823
Date Joined: 18/01/12
During my time chasing deep
During my time chasing deep sea swordfish and tuna, I had a surprise when we were pulling up big swords in the trench of Bremer bay and they were disgorging prawns all over the deck.
I'd never seen that before in 5 yrs and kept a few frozen, sent to AFMA (Australian Fisheries Management Authority).
They said they were Royal Red prawns, relatively common in the SE Trawl Fishery east of Bass Strait but they hadnt seen them in WA.
Pics from the early days... | Fishing - Fishwrecked.com - Fishing WA. Fishing Photos & Videos
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Alan James
Posts: 2243
Date Joined: 30/06/09
Royal Red Prawns
Interesting stuff Rob. A Google search indicates the WA Gov. acknowledges there is potential for a deep-water crustacean fishery off WA however this appears to be largely untapped.
I believe the prawns in the original pic to be Smooth Nylon Shrimp (Heterocarpus laevigatus). I found a distribution map for the species which I have added to the OP. This suggests this species are present in WA as you can see.
I must have missed your post containing pics from the early days. Great memories, I am sure.
dodgy
Posts: 4586
Date Joined: 01/02/10
Hard to catch tropical
Hard to catch tropical lobster in a conventional cray pot because their feelers don't fold back against their body.
Hope he isn't hand pulling in 450m.
Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
Alan James
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Date Joined: 30/06/09
...
I think you will find that 'the feelers don't fold back' and that they are vegetarians are old myths wrt painted and ornate lobsters. Having said that I accept that their feeler movement / rotation is less than the WA rock lobster.
He is not lifting the pots by hand but he has no mechanical lifting device either.
dodgy
Posts: 4586
Date Joined: 01/02/10
I believed the vegetarian
I believed the vegetarian one too until it was demonstrated to me one day with an occy leg. Painted nearly climbed out of the tank to get at it.
Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
jighead
Posts: 728
Date Joined: 03/02/12
.
If he's not pulling them by hand and he's not using mechanical aids I'm keen to know what other methods are being used . Please explain.
Alan James
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Date Joined: 30/06/09
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He uses an Anka Yanka retrieval system. He has ingeniously added two metal Y shaped bars to the rope a few metres from the pot. The ring of the Anka Yanka slips over the first Y but is trapped by the second which faces the opposite way. The next refinement is to see if we can modify the design of the pot so it planes to the surface. Work in progress.
jighead
Posts: 728
Date Joined: 03/02/12
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So it's mechanical
Alan James
Posts: 2243
Date Joined: 30/06/09
Forgive me ..........
Perhaps I should have said he does not use a powered winch to lift the pots
Gunnawundai
Posts: 54
Date Joined: 04/04/18
Yes very true, and the
Yes very true, and the reason they are hard to trap. They will not go into a conventional pot due to their feelers. However I have proven that they will eat meat baits. ie fish, so theoretically they could be trapped with the correct style of pot.
Just what sort of pot that is, is the burning question.
piscetor
Posts: 199
Date Joined: 13/05/16
painted crays
My wouldn't they go in backwards. if they are hungry enough you would think they would do it? a muck bigger entry hole? might do the trick. make a deeper pot with a bigger entry on it.
Filletmaster
Alan James
Posts: 2243
Date Joined: 30/06/09
Advice from WA Fisheries Dept
I contacted the Dept of Fisheries to see if dropping pots in deep water for prawns was permitted in WA. For the benefit of anyone who may have considered giving this a try the following is the response I received.
"Thankyou for your enquiry relating to fishing for deep water prawns.
In Western Australia it is illegal to use any form of trap for recreational purposes.
Studies have found this is also not a viable fishery in the metro area, I believe small numbers have been found in areas around Exmouth and further north."
It would appear recreational fishers are prevented from determining themselves whether it is a viable fishery or not.
Rob H
Posts: 5823
Date Joined: 18/01/12
I got the same response
I got the same response referring to "traps" when I asked about using occy pots at the Abrolhos.
I pointed out that they were legal on the coast, and if there was anything specific to say otherwise.
The 2nd response was more positive.
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
Jim
Posts: 1342
Date Joined: 05/05/06
There research is probably
There research is probably creel surveys done at boat ramp
Bend over
Alan James
Posts: 2243
Date Joined: 30/06/09
Pots are not allowed
To give this topic some closure I add the following comments.
The Fisheries Dept provides no avenue for recreational anglers to catch deep water prawns due to their restrictions on the gear recreational anglers can use to catch prawns. Prawns can only legally be caught using single hand-dip net, or single hand-scoop net, or single hand-throw net (in some areas only), or single prawn hand-trawl (drag) net.
Our friends at the WA Museum have once again been very helpful. They confirm there are about eight species of deep water nylon shrimp / prawns off the WA coast.
I have been unable to locate any evidence that suggests deep water prawns are targeted by the commercial sector in WA.